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Sex, drugs, and violence are usually a strong combination, and only

William Shakespeare could develop them into a masterful, poetic, and smart

story. In the play, " Romeo and Juliet," all these aspects of

teenage life absorb the reader or watcher. It is understood that Hollywood

would try to imitate this masterpiece on screen, and it has done so in two

films: Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 "Romeo and Juliet" and Baz Luhrmann's 1996

"William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet." The updated Luhrmann picture best

captures the heart of Shakespeare for the present-day viewer. Through the

creative use of modernization and location, while preserving Shakespearean

language, Shakespeare emerges and manages to captivate the audience.



Shakespeare's plays were designed to adapt to any audience: with this in

mind, Baz Luhrmann created a film that applies to the modern audience through

this updating. Luhrmann modernizes "Romeo and Juliet," through constant

alterations of the props, which attract the audience into genuinely feeling the

spirit of Shakespeare. The Zeffirelli version

is a very old fashioned type film set in Verona, to make it look

authentic the clothes worn by the characters are similar to the

clothes in Shakespeare’s time and so is the setting. The Lurhman

version is very modern, it is not set in Verona it is set in Verona

beach in USA. The clothes and setting is of the late 20th century

America. The first noticeable difference is in the films title the Baz Lurhmann 1997 version is

named ‘Romeo + Juliet’, while Zefirellis is ‘Romeo &

Juliet’. Luhrmann used ‘+’ instead of ‘&’ because it is a more modern
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